Sylvester Turner builds a case

During the 16-hour redistricting marathon this week, most of the objections from beleaguered Democrats focused on the dramatic population gains among the state’s Hispanic residents and how they were being ignored by the Republican super-majority — although Rep. Burt Solomons, the Carrollton Republican who serves as redistricting committee chairman, found it noteworthy that, percentage-wise, native Hawaiians are growing faster than Hispanics. He’s mentioned that fact several times in the last several weeks.

The chairman’s fascination notwithstanding, it’s not Waikiki surfer dudes or promulgators of poi who run the risk of being ignored across the great state of Texas. Rep. Sylvester Turner, the venerable Houston Democrat, will tell you it’s African Americans.

He told Solomons on the floor of the House last night that House Bill 150, the GOP redistricting plan that won approval early Thursday morning, is “outright retrogression” and that the Legislative Black Caucus, which he chairs, was not consulted on how the House map ought to be drawn.

As he spoke, a number of caucus members stood behind him in support. “We are not here to participate in our own demise,” Turner said. “We are not interested in being an ineffective group.”

Solomons reminded Turner that they were Capitol office neighbors. “I could have come down to your office and you could have come down to my office,” he said.

Turner, meanwhile, continued building a case against the plan’s effect on African Americans — and Solomons acknowledged that. “You’re doing what a good lawyer does,” he said. “You’re creating reasonable doubt.”